


Keep climbing, Nepeta

by TheVampireAvatar



Series: Kit-Cat [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Oops, This was written really fast can you tell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-25 23:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9851399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVampireAvatar/pseuds/TheVampireAvatar
Summary: Tree climbing can be dangerous when you're only a four year old troll





	

Ever since she was a wriggler, Nepeta loved to climb. First, it was just the simple things-when she was still walking on more than just the two legs she had today, she could try to climb the stairs, or up the chairs. At that time, it was probably the easiest to watch her because there were only so many things that she could climb (hiding on the other hand, was an entirely different story). Then as she grew older and into a different body, she began to climb more items around the house. The furniture gave her a plethora of new opportunities-the shelves, mostly. Equius was usually able to catch her in time (both literally and figuratively) so she wouldn’t hurt herself too badly. 

However, when Nepeta was about four years old, she pulled the stunt that Equius never really forgave her for. Of course, it wasn’t anything major he just didn’t like what happened when he eventually got the story out of her. Earlier in the day he was busy planning the wedding with Feferi and Nepeta had continuously pestered the pair of them to play a game with her, to watch this cool show with her, to go out and buy her a new toy, anything! She was lonely and just wanted them to pay attention with her. Normally he was great at doing so, but after about an hour of listening to her whine, Equius had had enough. 

“Nepeta!” He snapped, then caught himself, taking a deep breath in through his nose, then out through his gritted teeth. He was already on edge about this damned wedding and he did not need to listen to his adoptive troll complain the afternoon away. “Why don’t you go outside and entertain yourself? It is a congenial day outside that I think you’ll be able to find something to do.” The ‘without bothering us’ went unsaid and he bit his tongue to keep from saying so. 

“But Eeeeeq,” Nepeta complained while swinging on the handrail on the staircase. “I wanna do something with youuu!” 

“Neppie,” Feferi spoke up and placed her hand on Equius’s knee to keep his temper in check. “Equius and I are dealing with adult stuff right now, why don’t you go play outside? Go capture a butterfly or something?” 

“Adult stuff like that sex stuff?” Nepeta asked innocently, unaware of both of the humans’ faces flushing red, Feferi taking her hand off of Equius, and both of them looking away from each other. Equius of course, broke out into a sweat and he nodded heavily. 

“J-just like that, Nepeta.” He rose from the couch and grabbed her gently, escorting her to the backdoor. “Now, go enjoy being a child and do something that pleases you.” 

“But-!” She turned around to try and find an excuse good enough to let her stay in the house, but the door was shut and locked in her face. Rats! They knew that she could and would sneak back in if the door was unlocked. With a frown, she huffed and kicked a nearby rock across the yard. Her yellow eyes glanced around the green yard and she sighed again, filled with boredom. 

It wasn’t a huge yard, but it was something. Her record to touch one side of the yard’s fence to the other was only three seconds! (Last year, it was four seconds and she was so excited about that second being shaved off that she spent the rest of the afternoon doing cartwheels and such.) They had a few bushes lining the fence, but not many. The green grass was very bright in the afternoon lighting that made the yard seem very energetic and inviting, but her eyes were glazing over it. They of course, had some rocks and some decorative pottery, but it was older than she was and didn’t really seem playful today. Nepeta huffed and tilted her head up and smiled. 

There, planted years and years ago, were three huge oak trees stood so tall they reached above the roof of her two story house! Their wise branches were almost weaved together so tightly that Nepeta had trouble telling which branch belonged to which tree. These trees shaded her yard so well that the light was only able to get through the leaves in spots of circles on the ground. The bark was very rough, but the leaves were very smooth and felt nice on her face. The roots had tripped her a couple of times, but that was okay-it would always make her laugh. 

With a smirk, Nepeta now knew what she wanted to do. 

Feferi was beyond tired. The two of them had been calling and talking to so many people that Feferi swore, if somebody were to call her ma’am one more time that day, she would probably let loose and call them on their fake politeness. So, she got up from the couch and went to go get a strong cup of coffee. As she was pouring a glass, asking Equius if he wanted any too, she just so happened to glance out the window to see the small troll she had cared for for years scaling up one of the trees. 

She closed her eyes and shook her head. She wasn’t even up high, she couldn’t reach the branches yet, but all the same….

Nepeta turned her head to look at the kitchen window to see Feferi removing her hand from knocking on it. She could hear Feferi telling her to get down (and did so with another huff of disappointment) and saw her walk away with a stomp in her step towards the backyard door. 

It took Nepeta a second before she looked back up at the tree with a longing gaze. Feferi would probably tell her that she wasn’t allowed to go back up on it or something. 

“Nepeta!” 

“Whaaaat?” She groaned and turned towards the lady now standing in the doorway. 

“Don’t climb that tree! You could fall or something and neither I or Equius want to deal with any injuries today.” 

“But-!” 

“No buts, Nepeta. Don’t climb that tree,” Feferi pointed at the tree Nepeta was climbing. “If you do it again, you’re gonna get in trouble.” 

“But-!” Aaand the door was closed and locked again in her face. Now, Nepeta was now upset. Neither of her friends were gonna listen to her because of their wedding. And every time that she tried to do something, the door was slammed in her face. How was that fair?! 

With an aggravated huff, Nepeta turned and kicked the root before sliding down the tree’s trunk and sitting on the ground to pick at the grass. Her tail twitched next to her and lazily flicked the tip around aimlessly. Now what was she going to do if she couldn’t climb this tree? 

And, as the figure of speech goes, a little bird told her. She looked up as a bird perched high above her sang a song in the tree next to her. Nepeta smiled, showing off all of her sharp little teeth. Of course! If she couldn’t climb this tree, who was to say she couldn’t pick another tree to climb on? After all, she had two other trees in her yard to choose from. Besides, she thought slyly as she eyed that bird. Now she had some prey to hunt. 

After a few minutes of struggling, she was able to haul herself up and over one of the branches. From that point, it was very easy to continuously haul herself and dig her claws into the rough bark. She didn’t even realize how high she was until she saw the roof below her foot when she glanced down to make sure her footing was proper. A rush of adrenaline ran through her system, filling her veins with an ice cool feeling. Her eyes were now filled with worry and caution. On one hand, she was scared that she could fall or get into trouble with her caretakers. But on the other, now she was at the part where the branches were intertwined with each other and the bird was still sitting there, almost teasing her with its singing!

So, with a growl that most trolls would be envious of, she tensed her legs and locked eyes with the bird, her tail flickering like nobody’s business, she leaped out and gave a roar of victory! 

Well, naturally, if this were successful, this wouldn’t be a story. So, of course, Nepeta didn’t get the bird, who flew away and instead fell a couple of feet down until she hit a branch so hard she swore that she could feel her lungs rattle and stop working for a solid minute. It had taken so much of her strength to actually climb back up that she had to stop for a couple of minutes on top of the branch and just breathe. It might’ve been that or the fact that her lungs were still sore, but either way, wow breathing sure wasn’t fun at the moment. 

With regret full in her eyes, she looked down to the ground, a lot farther than she would’ve liked. 

After she was done catching her breath, she remained up there and tried to figure out how to get down without killing herself. Of course, there was the roof, but how would Equius get her down? She could shimmy down the rain drainage pipes, but that was almost as trustworthy as shimmying down the trees now. Another option would be to just camp out and wait for somebody to find her, but all the same, how would she get down once somebody found her?

Her child mind was stumped. 

Well, at least if she shimmied down the tree instead of the pipes the bark would give her something to grab better thanks to the texture. Her claws were able to dig in better too. 

So down she went, taking her time very carefully. Each time she moved a limb down, she would dig her claws in as far as she could, pull to make sure the spot could hold her, then move. It had taken much, much longer than it did going up, but she was pretty sure that she’d rather spend the time waiting than recuperating (as much as it normally would’ve annoyed her to hear that). 

When she was about fifteen feet up in the air still, the door opened out and an angry called out, “Nepeta!!” 

It had jarred her so bad, she lost her grip and fell like a sack of potatoes down to the earth, landing on her back. For a few seconds, she couldn’t breathe. Her lungs, once again, had been shaken so badly that it hurt for her to really breathe. In fact, the landing had rocked her body so hard she wasn’t able to breathe for a few moments after landing. She was vaguely aware that footsteps were closing in on her, but she couldn’t really do anything except gasp like a fish out of water. Even her eyes wouldn’t open. 

Regardless, she did feel the massive hands pick her up carefully and check her over. When she could crack her eyes open, she saw Equius’s worried, yet scrutinizing face, check her over. She knew that he was in vet mode and simply let her eyes close as he worked about her. 

Once she had gotten her breath back and was able to talk, Equius had her move her limbs and tell him if anything hurt. The only thing that truly hurt was the nail that had been lost climbing (and falling) the trees, which left her finger to bleed profusely. Other than that she was totally fine. 

“Nepeta,” Equius said as he bandaged her finger up tightly with some items from the medical kit he kept at their house (of course). “You are grounded.”


End file.
